BUFFALO 41, Tennessee 7
Sam Martin could do no wrong.
Yes, on this perfect night for the Buffalo Bills, even the punts seemed to work in their favor.
Titans returners muffed two punts. The first led to 1 of Stefon Diggs’ 3 touchdowns on the night. The second was recovered by the Titans, but it no longer mattered. The Bills led 41-7. Both backup QB’s were in.
Yes, you read that right. The Buffalo Bills dismantled the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football. So much so, that the Titans put in rookie QB Malik Willis WITH THREE MINUTES LEFT IN THE 3RD QUARTER.
Tonight was a story of the Buffalo Bills’ dominance.
“We have an attitude of domination”, said Von Miller.
The Bills drove the field effortlessly on their first drive, cashing in on a screen pass Merekat’s favorite player Reggie Gilliam.
The Titans drove the ball and tied the game at 7 on a short Derrick Henry run. The scripted first drive is the only offense the Titans would produce.
The Bills kicked a field goal (after a questionable false start on 4th and 1 forced it).
And then, the Bills came alive and who else but Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs to lead the charge.
The two superstars put on a show for all of America to see on Monday Night Football against last year’s #1 seed in the AFC.
Josh Allen threw for 4 TDs and 317 yards. Allen hit Stefon Diggs for not one…
Not two…
But three times for touchdowns.
Stefon Diggs was a reception monster, totaling 12 catches for 148 yards and 3 TDs.
“I feel like we’re doing, okay.” said Stefon Diggs.
And it’s weird to describe Buffalo’s brilliance on Monday as “routine” or “expected” but here we are.
It felt like they should be doing it.
They should be dismantling teams no matter the time, day, or location.
But to see it come to light in the way it has the first two weeks…
No one expected this.
Not to the level of domination. Not to the level of ease. Or with this amount of levity, through all the hype.
Bask in it for a little bit Bills fans. Until Sunday, at least.
Week 1 overreactions are a tale as old as time. Week 2 is even too early for teams to establish a season-long identity. But since the playoffs were expanded in 2020, no team that started 0-2 has yet to make them. Surely that could change any coming year, but starting strong proves to be important during the 17-game campaign.
Let’s dive into the games and the narratives coming out of Week 2’s matchups.
MIAMI 42 Baltimore 38
Are the Dolphins for real? Tuanon feels vindicated today. Tyreek Hill definitely should. So should Mike McDaniel.
I don’t care for the technical, football reasons this comeback happened. Those would be Ravens offense taking their foot off the pedal or the various blown coverages.
Tua stayed poised, down 28-7 at the half and 35-14 in the second half and let his two (INCREDIBLE) playmakers get them back into the game and eventually pull off the biggest comeback of Sunday.
So yes, Tua showed poise and moxy to stay composed and orchestrate a major comeback against an AFC contender and outduel Lamar Jackson who had A HELL OF DAY.
But I’ll just leave this here as a reminder for the rest of the season. Tua or not, this is a problem.
NEW YORK (A) 31 Cleveland 30
The Browns really Browns’d up this game. They had a chance to get a first down and run the clock out, up 24-17 late. The following series of events led to a Browns loss.
- Kareem Hunt runs out of bounds after gaining a first down with 2:03 remaining. Clocks stopped.
- Nick Chubb TD. Cade York missed PAT. Browns lead 30-17 with just over 2 minutes left.
- Browns blow coverage, don’t even try to chase Corey Davis as he walks in for a TD. 30-24 Browns.
- Onside kick recovered by the Jets.
- Game-winning drive orchestrated by Flacco in under 90 seconds, Garrett Wilson TD with 22 seconds left.
- Jacoby Brissett interception at around the Jets’ 40-yard line trying to move into field goal range, game over.
As much credit as you can give to New York for staying composed and playing through the final whistle, the above occurrences is about as Brownsy as the Browns can Brown.
ARIZONA 29, Las Vegas/Oakland/Los Angeles 23 (F/OT)
Kyler can still do video game stuff, but these teams both shouldn’t feel good today.
Vegas/Oakland leads 23-7 late. Vegas/Oakland loses 29-23. HUH!?
Kyler Murray made things happen late. He was doing video game shit once again, including on the final TD and two-point conversion. But up until that point, the offense was stagnant AND the two-point conversion could’ve been a disaster after the Cardinals took a DELAY OF GAME FOLLOWING A RAIDERS TIMEOUT. Unheard of.
The final play was caused by Isaiah Simmons, knocking the ball out of Hunter Renfrows hands in overtime and the Cardinals picked it up and returned it for a TD.
I don’t think we learned a thing about either team. Both are going to be 8-9 or 9-8 because they have high-end talent but can’t get out of their own way. Typical Cardinals and Raiders stuff.
Let’s get to some non-comeback-related games from Sunday.
TAMPA BAY 20, New Orleans 10
FIGHT!
These two teams HATE each other. Physical, defensive struggle all game long, and this felt like the turning point for the Bucs. Brady with a great throw to Perriman and a Bucs pick 6 lead to TB12’s first victory over the Saints.
Mike Evans will be suspended for one game, next Sunday against Green Bay.
DALLAS 20, Cincinnati 17
The Bengals didn’t solve any o-line problems.
Dallas had 6 sacks. The Bengals o-line troubles are going nowhere and remain the team’s achilles heel. The Bengals will struggle until they get this fixed.
Dallas looked solid behind Cooper Rush, but the Bengals gave this game away.
Although, give MICAH PARSONS HIS GAHDAMN FLOWERS.
JACKSONVILLE 24, Indianapolis 0
Trevor Lawrence has arrived. Matt Ryan..might be washed.